The Other Duo
by mindmelda
Summary: Duo finds Heero using his name to hide out. Yaoi, don't read if not your thing. Rated for sexual situations and language
1. Chapter 1

Title: The Other Duo  
  
Author: Gina Lin Series: Gundam Wing Genre: Citrus, Romance, Humor Warnings: Citrus, Yaoi, Language. Pairing: 1x2 Rating: R Archived:  
  
Summary: Duo tracks down Heero so they can have a "discussion". (My first try at a 1x2 story in canon.)  
  
The Other Duo  
  
Chapter 1  
  
Duo hacked away at the library's public access computer.  
  
"I'm sorry young man." A dumpy gray headed woman with a pleasantly plump wrinkled face like a withered apple tapped his shoulder. "Your hour is up. Someone else needs to use this space."  
  
"It's okay, Ma'am, I found it." Duo smiled up at her. She returned the smile politely.  
  
"I'm glad we could help."  
  
Duo stood up, absently rubbing his aching rear through his blue jeans. Library chairs were still made of hard wood.  
  
"Yeah, lady, thanks a lot." The woman went over to help the next patron as Duo left through the side entrance.  
  
"Hey, there's something wrong with this computer!" The college student in line behind Duo to type an a essay was met with the blue screen of death as the librarian looked around to try to find the young man with the long, chestnut hair worn in a distinctive braid down to his hips.  
  
Duo sat on the bus, looking at a small piece of paper clutched in his hand.  
  
"I found you again, 'Duo Maxwell'."  
  
He chuckled under his breath, looking out of the window at the passing Houston cityscape.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Someone had found him. Heero Yuy sat in his apartment, staring at the laptop he'd just booted up.  
  
"Ch'kuso." He swore quietly at the screen. The detection program he'd installed when he moved into the nondescript apartment building was sending up an alert. Someone was using a public terminal to find "Duo Maxwell", the name he was currently using. Again.  
  
The name "Duo Maxwell" wasn't nearly as well known as the name of the former pacifist leader of the colonies, "Heero Yuy". But apparently, it had attracted someone's attention.  
  
Already, he'd had to deflect a few questions as to why someone who looked at least part Japanese had an Irish last name. Which wasn't that difficult, really. Being racially mixed was commonplace anymore. Sometimes, he told people he was adopted, which wasn't a total fabrication.  
  
He thought for a moment. The most logical person to be looking for someone named "Duo Maxwell" was..  
  
"Duo Maxwell." Heero muttered. He closed the laptop, resting his chin in his hands.  
  
"I know imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Heero, but I'm worried about how predictable you're getting."  
  
Heero jumped up and spun around so quickly, the chair he was sitting in fell over with a crash.  
  
"How'd you get in!" He had a gun in his hand, and as usual, Duo hadn't seen where he'd had it hidden.  
  
"Through the door." Duo held up a lockpick, and grinned lazily at the gun pointed at his forehead.  
  
"If you shoot me, at least there won't be two of us running around Houston. People are going to notice sooner or later."  
  
Heero swallowed and lowered the gun. "You have a point."  
  
"Can I sit and have a beer? I hate being pistol-whipped before the refreshments are served."  
  
"I'm not going to pistol-whip you, Duo. The beer is in the fridge."  
  
"I hope you got imported instead of that watered down American piss." Duo went to check the fridge. "And thanks for not hitting me, I've had kind of a rough day tracking you down."  
  
"Don't mention it." Heero's tone was as dry as the Kalahari.  
  
"Ah, good stuff!" Duo pulled two bottles from the apartment's refrigerator and twisted the caps off. "Want one?" he held one out to Heero.  
  
"How kind of you to offer me my own beer." To someone who was unfamiliar with Heero's brand of humor, the sarcasm would have been undetected.  
  
"I see charm school hasn't been on your 'to do' list."  
  
"What are you doing here, Duo?"  
  
Duo looked around comically, leaning against the kitchen countertop with the beer in his hand. "Do you mean me, or are you talking to yourself?" His tone was lightly mocking, but Heero heard the steel underneath.  
  
"Knock that shit off." Heero took a long pull of the beer and roughly wiped off his mouth with the back of his hand, closing the few paces of distance between himself and the other man.  
  
"I need to find out something." Duo met the intense stare with one of his own. Their noses were only a few inches apart. Duo felt Heero's breath tickle his face. Heero smelled like clean sweat and deodorant soap; his breath held a hint of refreshing sourness from the beer.  
  
"What?" The single word was ground out between Heero's clenched teeth. Duo could see the muscle in his jaw bulge and tighten.  
  
"This."  
  
Duo placed the empty beer bottle on the counter at the same moment he closed the gap between their mouths and teased Heero's slightly opened lips with a kiss.  
  
He wondered if he'd be punched or pushed away, so he braced himself against the counter and prepared to duck. So, Heero's puzzled voice in his ear wasn't exactly what he expected next.  
  
"You hacked into the public database so you could kiss me?"  
  
"Um, yeah."  
  
"And I thought I was.odd. You haven't seen me for 1 year, 6 months and 14 days."  
  
"How sweet of you to notice." Duo rested his forehead against Heero's collarbone. They were the same height, he noticed, so he had to bend his knees slightly. Heero never moved, like leaning against a warm wall.  
  
"Duo, you have never indicated that you had any sexual feelings for me before."  
  
"You miss a lot, don't you?" This was said against Heero's white t-shirt.  
  
"Last time we saw each other, you left to go live with Hilde."  
  
"Where else did I have to go? She offered, I accepted. Last time I saw you, you were dating Relena."  
  
"That didn't work out very well. We're too.different. She's a nice girl. I don't know what do with nice girls. We decided we'd try just being friends." Heero took a deep breath. For him, that was a long explanation. "I thought you were interested in Hilde. Sexually, I mean."  
  
"If you say 'sexually' like that again, I swear I'm going to stick my empty beer bottle up your...um, nose. It's the most unsexy thing I've ever heard."  
  
"Are you making a pass at me?" Duo felt and heard Heero set down his own beer bottle on the counter behind him.  
  
"No, I'm here to take a census of the sexual habits of ex-Gundam pilots!" Duo jerked his head back and glared at Heero in a frustrated manner.  
  
"You're being sarcastic." Heero regarded him with his head cocked to one side, like he was a rare specimen of bug.  
  
"Jeezus, Heero, what did Dr. J do, remove your fucking libido along with your sense of humor?"  
  
"No, both are intact. I think." Duo felt warm rough hands on his upper arms and looked into bemused oblique blue eyes.  
  
"You sound like you're not sure." He tried a grin, but it came out lopsided because of his mixed emotions.  
  
"I'm not sure of anything, that's why I'm five miles from the old NASA base, using the name 'Duo Maxwell'."  
  
"So, that's where you're rebuilding Wing."  
  
Heero nodded. "There's lots of abandoned hangars there, and old aircraft."  
  
"Heero, you had to know I'd figure out it was you using my name again."  
  
"Yes, I knew. I've been waiting for you to find me." Heero pulled Duo against him; the motion rough and awkward at first and then becoming comfortable as Heero's muscles slowly relaxed. Duo sucked in enough air to steady himself as he returned the embrace. He felt warm lips against his jaw, kissing him in a tentative manner. A shudder of anticipation prickled his bare arms with gooseflesh.  
  
"Want to stay with me a while, Duo Maxwell?" Heero's voice rumbled against his ear.  
  
"Sure, Duo Maxwell, why the hell not?"  
  
TBC 


	2. Chapter 2

Title: The Other Duo  
  
Author: Gina Lin Series: Gundam Wing Genre: Romance, Adventure, and Humor Warnings: Language, Yaoi, Rating: R Archived: S_E updates, LiveJournal,  
  
Chapter 2  
  
"I only have one bed, but it's a double. You can sleep on the couch if you want, it's up to you."  
  
Heero was making dinner.  
  
"Dinner smells good, what is it?"  
  
"Chicken."  
  
"Just 'chicken'?"  
  
" And vegetables. You're avoiding my statement about sleeping accommodations."  
  
"You noticed. Can I have a taste?"  
  
"Yes, but get a clean spoon. Do you want to sleep with me or not?"  
  
Duo had scooped up a spoonful of chicken stir-fry and had it halfway to his mouth. It stopped.  
  
"You know, I'd forgotten how direct you can be."  
  
"Is this a difficult question for you?"  
  
"It depends on if you mean actually 'sleeping' as in closing my little eyes and getting 8 hours. Or maybe you're asking me if I want you to um, you know, 'sleep' with me." Duo made little quote marks with his fingers.  
  
"We'll probably end up doing both. I would like to get some sleep tonight; I have a busy day tomorrow. But, having sex would be fine."  
  
Heero reached up in a cupboard and added some soy sauce to the mixture.  
  
"Gee, this is all so darn seductive, I don't know what to say." Duo put the spoonful of food in his mouth and chewed nervously. He hadn't meant to sound quite so sarcastic.  
  
"Are you upset? I thought that part of the reason you came here was to see if a sexual relationship would be mutually suitable?"  
  
"Heero, have you ever seen a romantic movie, I mean of any kind? Or read a novel about love or romance, a poem.something?"  
  
"I admit, I haven't had a lot of time to look at such things. Am I doing something that bothers you? You sound.distressed."  
  
"I'm not distressed, I'm uncertain. You sound as though having sex with me is on your chore list, after making dinner and washing the dishes!"  
  
Heero turned off the gas, put the wok off to one side, and turned around to look at Duo.  
  
"Do you really think I sound like that?" He fixed Duo with a penetrating stare, his brows drawn down in consternation.  
  
"I guess I'm asking if this whole thing is in anyway special to you. It is for me, or I wouldn't be here."  
  
"Duo, you want to be special to me?"  
  
"Is it such a new idea? I thought I already was." Duos looked down to avoid that intense gaze.  
  
"I wish I were better at being with people. I wish I knew the right things to say." Heero sighed. "I totally screwed this up."  
  
"I guess that means I'll be sleeping on the couch?" Duo turned around and placed his hands on the countertop, not knowing if he felt relieved or disappointed.  
  
"I don't want you to. Why should we delay this any longer? I've missed you. You're the only person I ever really miss." Heero stood behind him and placed his hands carefully on Duo's shoulders.  
  
"Can you reheat dinner later?" Duo asked, his voice rasping. He turned around suddenly. "I'm scared as hell, Heero, what if this is wrong too? I'm running out of places to run away to!"  
  
"There's only one way to find out if this will work. I wish I could be subtle about this. But, I don't know how. I only know how to be me. I'm not romantic, I know how things work between people in a clinical way, but I ."  
  
Duo silenced him with an unexpected and fierce kiss that quickly became a battle for control. Heero pulled roughly off Duo's red t-shirt over his head to run his hands over warm bare skin underneath.  
  
"Oh, god, are you sure you don't know how to be seductive?" Duo gasped, when he finally could.  
  
"Take off your other clothes, or I might rip them." Heero started pulling his own t shirt off over his head.  
  
"Can I insert a word here?" Duo grabbed Heero's hands and stilled them. "Foreplay? Ever hear of that?"  
  
"I understand males usually don't require a lot of that."  
  
"I'm not asking for an hour here, buddy!" Duo chuckled nervously, folding his arms against his now bare chest. "I just don't want my first time to be drop your drawers,slam bam up against the kitchen countertop!"  
  
"First time? You've never had sex before?"  
  
"Well, I've fooled around some. I mean, I'm 18, I'm not exactly inexperienced!"  
  
"I've never done this either. Relena is very conservative. Besides, I don't think I was attracted to her this way." Heero frowned thoughtfully, his shirt half off and his hair standing wildly on end. Duo almost snickered.  
  
"You're attracted to me?" Duo cocked his head inquiringly, grinning a little.  
  
"What I can see so far is very. nice."  
  
"Oh, so I'm making you hot?" Duo looked up at him slyly.  
  
"Yes, you're arousing me."  
  
"I have got to teach you to talk dirty. I feel like I'm in sex ed class."  
  
"Do you want me to use vulgar language? You find that arousing?"  
  
"Forget it!" Duo chuckled. "I think you're probably the type for whom actions speak louder than words."  
  
He grabbed the t-shirt hanging around Heero's neck and pulled him into a rough and frankly sexual kiss.  
  
"If you don't want to have sex on the countertop, we should go and lie on the bed." Heero unbuttoned his loose jeans and allowed them fall to the kitchen floor.  
  
Duo gulped. "Don't you own any underwear? Not that I'm complaining!"  
  
"I don't want to talk anymore." Heero grabbed his hands and half-pulled, half-dragged Duo to the bedroom door, which he impatiently pushed open with an elbow.  
  
"Hang on!"  
  
"Is there something else I'm forgetting?" Heero threw off the t-shirt that was hanging around his neck and sat naked and impatient on the bed.  
  
"Slow down, there, um, big boy!" Duo tried to remember the last time he'd seen Heero in the buff and it seemed as though he'd . grown a bit since 16.  
  
"You've changed your mind?" Heero looked thoroughly puzzled again.  
  
"No, but is it all right if I pause a bit to admire the view?"  
  
Heero looked down at himself briefly. "Shouldn't you be naked too?" He looked at Duo and raised an eyebrow inquiringly.  
  
"I'm shy."  
  
Heero snorted. "Since when?"  
  
"Since 5 minutes ago."  
  
"Are you worried that I might hurt you?"  
  
"Um, well, yeah, okay, that's one thing. Since I have this feeling that I'm going to end up on the receiving end of things, if you know what I mean."  
  
"No, you can fuck me if you want."  
  
Duo's eyes widened. "Gee, what a nice offer. Forget what I said about teaching you to talk dirty. You're already great at it!"  
  
"Thank you." Heero smiled and pointed to the bed next to him.  
  
"You're smiling! I mean I've seen you smile before, but this must be a special occasion." Duo walked over and sat down next to him.  
  
"I'm anticipating doing much more than smiling very soon." He pushed Duo down onto the soft cotton blanket and looked down at him. "You're the most attractive person I know, Duo Maxwell, and I want so much to touch you everywhere."  
  
"Yes, I want that too." Duo closed his eyes as warm hands touched his face first and then his neck, and ran down his arms. Every touch left a trail of hot sensation on his skin. His breathing quickened into sighs and gasps.  
  
"Forget what I said about foreplay, you're great at that too!"  
  
"It's all theory, I wanted you to be the first person I tried this on." Heero's voice seemed far away.  
  
"You need to take off the rest of your clothes."  
  
Duo nodded wordlessly. He lifted his hips and felt his jeans and briefs being slid off around his feet, then pulled completely off. Warm breath blew against his upper thigh and he shuddered.  
  
"Heero!"  
  
"So, you can still talk!" He heard the laugh in Heero's voice and opened his eyes.  
  
Duo sat up on his elbows. "It's hard to think when you have a lack of blood to the brain!" He got on his hands and knees and before Heero could move, he straddled him in mirror fashion.  
  
"Now, we can both have fun!" And he promptly swallowed Heero to the hilt. Hearing the loud gasp of satisfaction, he grinned briefly and proceeded to applying himself vigorously to the task in front of him. He stopped to groan loudly when he felt himself taken in the same manner.  
  
"Oh god, please, please, please!" Duo barely realized he was sobbing and yelling in tandem and he finally climaxed as Heero held his hips firmly to keep him from collapsing on top of his face.  
  
"Oh my god, I'm sorry, I couldn't hold on, that was too much, I never had anyone." He swallowed and panted heavily as Heero pushed him gently back on the bed and stroked his thighs as he trembled.  
  
"Oh, you didn't." Because it was obvious Heero still hadn't.  
  
"No, but we're not finished. Unless you want to be."  
  
"No I don't want to be. Heero, I'm willing to let you, you know, come inside me if you want." Duo felt himself blushing and then felt silly for being embarrassed.  
  
"I have to get something." Heero crawled over his prone form and Duo heard a drawer open and shut. He closed his eyes, starting to feel a little nervous.  
  
"Duo, please open your eyes. I'm going to do this very slowly and if it hurts in the least, we can do something else. I promise. I'd never hurt you."  
  
"What do I do?" Duo's voice dropped to a rasping whisper.  
  
"Lie on your stomach with a pillow under your hips. Then you can relax."  
  
"I can't do that! I'm not going to do that, I'm sorry, I can't. Not yet!"  
  
"Then just press your thighs together. I'm not going to enter you if you're nervous."  
  
Duo nodded and rolled over on his stomach. He clenched his legs together and felt Heero push his slick penis between his thighs and rub himself up and down. Heero's groans and gasps caused his own longings begin to stir again and he began to meet each thrust between his thighs.  
  
"I'm cumming!" he felt and heard Heero at almost the same moment and rolled over to see his face flushed and tight with ecstasy.  
  
"Oh, Heero!" Duo pulled Heero against him as his ragged breathing resolved itself after a few minutes.  
  
"Duo. It's better with someone else, isn't it?"  
  
Duo laughed a bit shakily. "Yes, it is."  
  
"I'm so sleepy now." Heero's voice sounded young and childish. Duo tightened his arms around him and fingered his soft hair.  
  
"Me too. But we're all messy."  
  
"Does that mean I have to move? Because I don't think I can for a bit."  
  
"No, not right now. I want to lie here a while. I'm sorry I chickened out."  
  
"No, it's your body, don't worry about it." Heero sounded drugged with sleep.  
  
"Heero?"  
  
"Wha..?" Heero made a snuffling sound.  
  
"I feel really close to you."  
  
Duo felt the smile against his shoulder. "You are really close to me."  
  
TBC 


	3. Chapter 3

Title: The Other Duo  
  
Author: Gina Lin Series: Gundam Wing Genre: Romance, Adventure, and Humor Warnings: Language, Yaoi, Rating: R Archived: S_E updates, LiveJournal,  
  
Chapter 3  
  
"I'm hungry now, can we have dinner?" Duo sat up and shook the dozing Heero awake. "Hey, wake up, Heero. You gonna sleep all evening?"  
  
"No." Heero opened one eye, glaring at Duo, which gave him the brief illusion of winking until the other eye opened.  
  
Heero sat up and yawned, still naked, the cotton blanket settling around his hips. Duo was torn between frankly staring or looking away. Hair tousled and sticking up at all angles, eyes slightly squinted with sleep, Heero was still an amazingly handsome man. Duo wondered if Heero knew it, or even cared. He never acted like he did.  
  
"Uh, you'd better get dressed, because I'm a growing boy and I'll starve to death if I sit here and stare at you all night."  
  
Heero snorted, and stood up, not in the least self-conscious of his nude state and went to find some clothes. His baggy jeans were still on the kitchen floor.  
  
"Duo, you can have a drawer here, there's an empty one." Heero reached into a drawer. Finding some black shorts, he pulled them on. Duo wondered if black shorts still comprised most of Heero's wardrobe.  
  
"Thanks, I'll unpack after I've had something to eat." Duo's duffle-bag had been left by the door, forgotten. Duo watched Heero stretch languidly like a cat, rising up on his toes, then push a hand carelessly through his unruly hair.  
  
"Where have you been staying?" Heero folded his arms and leaned against the wall, regarding Duo intently.  
  
"Here and there, motels, mostly." Duo stood up, wrapping the bed-sheet around his hips, as the other blankets slid to the floor. "Just wandering around."  
  
"Like me," said Heero, nodding. "I came here to Houston and took this apartment when I got a message from J a few months ago to start re-building Wing. I got diagrams by email, and materials delivered to various mail drops. Money too. I don't know what it means. I don't even know if it's J. It was then I started looking for you."  
  
"Why me?" Duo asked.  
  
"Why so shy, Duo? You're messing up my bed." Heero's mouth quirked up on one side as Duo fished around for his pants trying to hold the sheet around him. He wondered if Duo would notice the evasion of his question.  
  
"Oh, but it's 'our' bed now!" Duo grinned at him, as he secured his pants from the floor. "And you already know I'm kind of messy. And you didn't answer my question."  
  
Heero walked back over to the bed and sat down. "Duo, are you.lonely?"  
  
Duo froze. "I suppose." His voice was uncharacteristically subdued.  
  
A strong hand reached out and grabbed his wrist. "Duo, I'm not sure what I feel, but I do feel like we need each other." The almost painful grip eased.  
  
"I think so too, that's why I'm here." Duo put his other hand over Heero's and gently rubbed it. Heero's hands were strong looking, with long fingers. Faint scars marred the smooth, hairless backs of them and his forearms.  
  
Heero looked at the clasped hands, and then into Duo's eyes, then back at their entwined hands.  
  
"Duo, I don't know if I can love anyone. I mean, I feel something for you, but I don't know what it is."  
  
"I know, but I think we can fix that." Duo smiled at him, a genuine smile that made Heero feel warm and good inside.  
  
"You sure you want to take that chance?" Heero tried to pull his hand free.  
  
"Don't you think it's a little late to be asking me that? Unless you think I just go around hitting the sheets with anyone who makes my shorts tight." There was an undertone of either fear or hurt in Duo's voice. Heero couldn't tell which.  
  
"No, I can't imagine that." Heero tried to sound apologetic.  
  
"I mean, just because a guy gets a little lonely, that doesn't mean he's gonna spread for anyone who asks." Duo was definitely upset.  
  
"I'd never think that about you." Heero wondered if he hugged Duo if he'd feel better. He tried it. Duo felt a bit stiff in his arms initially, but then he began to rub his face against Heero's shoulder in a self-comforting gesture.  
  
"Duo, do you regret being intimate with me?"  
  
"No, well, maybe. No." Duo shook his head against Heero's neck, as if it clear it. "I'm just afraid I disappointed you, I guess. I mean, I didn't envision myself chickening out at the last minute like that. It doesn't mean that I don't want this to happen."  
  
"I'm not disappointed. I'm very pleased. You didn't 'chicken out'. Admitting you're not ready for something is not cowardly. I didn't expect things to be perfect. Contrary to what you may have heard, I'm not, you know."  
  
Duo heard the irony in Heero's voice and looked up. Their gaze locked and Duo found himself being kissed gently on the end of his nose, then his brow, then his cheekbone.  
  
"If you don't stop that, we'll never get to eat." Duo began to kiss him back, then playfully pushed Heero away when emotions grew heated once more.  
  
"You can call me a tease if you want to, but feed me first!" He stood up naked and pulled on his pants, mentally shrugging and deciding that the sheet was a waste of time.  
  
"Come on, it'd be rude of me to let you starve." Heero openly smiled at Duo and he pulled up his jeans sans underwear.  
  
"Heero?"  
  
"Mm?"  
  
"Thanks."  
  
"Why are you thanking me?" Heero turned and gave Duo an openly wondering look.  
  
"For everything. You don't know how long I've been wondering if this was even possible. Now I know. I feel, I don't know..relieved."  
  
Heero nodded once in acknowledgement. "I know this is not the way most people initiate a relationship, Duo. I suppose people figure out these things about themselves much sooner. I'm sorry I didn't."  
  
"I don't think I'm a whole lot better clued in than you are." Duo chuckled.  
  
They went into the small kitchen/dining area, where there were still two empty plates sitting on the table.  
  
"I'll have to heat this up." Heero opened the wok and looked inside. "Definitely cold." He opened another covered pot. "Rice is too."  
  
"Just put it on the plates, and stick them in the microwave." Duo yawned, and went to peek over Heero's shoulder.  
  
"God, it's been ages since I sat down and had a meal with anyone." Duo retrieved the plates from the table. Heero filled them and went about heating their food up again.  
  
"You've been alone?"  
  
"Sure, just kind of bumming around. Oh, I worked a little here and there. Mechanic work, mostly. Aircraft, cars, motorcycles."  
  
"I need you to help me re-build Wing. With two of us, it will go twice as fast. Maybe faster."  
  
Duo looked up, narrowing his eyes. "Is that why you brought me here?"  
  
"Partly, yes."  
  
Duo shook his head and laughed ruefully. "Might have known there was a catch."  
  
"What do you mean?" Heero brought their plates over and sat one down in front of Duo."  
  
"This is about the mission, isn't it Heero?"  
  
"Mission?" Heero's question was toneless.  
  
"You didn't have to drag me into your bed to get me to help you rebuild Wing, I would have done it anyway," Duo said coldly.  
  
"Duo, do you really think I would use you like that?" Heero whispered, stricken.  
  
Duo shook his head. "I don't know, I hope not."  
  
"I wouldn't. No matter what you think of me, I wouldn't do that. I simply thought that since you're here, your expertise with mechanical things would be .useful." Heero had put down his fork, looking at his plate with unseeing eyes.  
  
"Heero, I'm sorry. I guess I just can't always read you very well. It was always the mission before anything. Or anyone. It's hard to believe that's changed."  
  
"The war is OVER!" Heero crashed his fist into the table, rattling the dishes.  
  
Duo winced. "I know it is, buddy. It's all right. Don't go postal on me." His tone was soothing, as though he were talking to a skittish horse.  
  
Heero sucked in a deep breath and sat down. He began to eat mechanically, putting food into his mouth, chewing, swallowing, his eyes unfocused.  
  
"You know, this is pretty good chow, you might want to taste it."  
  
Heero looked up into Duo's smiling eyes. "Duo, you're not going to leave, are you?"  
  
Duo shook his head, feeling his heart clench at Heero's plaintive tone. "No, I'm not going to leave. And I'll help you build Wing. We'll see what happens from there. I'll always be around. I'm gonna be like bubblegum on your shoe, baby."  
  
He gave Heero his carefree jokers' grin. And was finally able to breath when Heero answered with a small smile of his own.  
  
TBC 


	4. Chapter 4

Title: The Other Duo  
  
Author: Gina Lin Series: Gundam Wing Pairing: 1x2 Genre: Romance, Adventure, Angst and Humor Warnings: Language, Yaoi, Citrus Rating: R Archived: S_E updates, FF.net, GWFF  
  
Story so far: Duo and Heero post-EW. Duo finds Heero in Houston to see if they have a future together. Heero has received a mysterious mission to rebuild Wing. Little do they realize that they're still being manipulated by powers beyond their control, albeit for a very different purpose.  
  
Chapter 4  
  
The hiss of the air conditioning was Duo's first awareness the next morning. Houston's hot and swampy weather demanded air conditioning 9 months out of the year. Being unused to it, Duo shivered in the artificial coolness.  
  
"Cold?" Heero's voice croaked next to him.  
  
"A little." Duo reached around for the blanket, being only covered with a sheet.  
  
"Here." He felt a blanket drawn over his shoulders and then the sudden warmth of Heero's body spooned against his bare back, buttocks and thighs.  
  
"Better?" Heero sounded barely awake, his warm breath stirring the long hairs at the back of Duo's neck that had come lose during sleep. Duo relaxed into the bodily warmth offered him and sighed.  
  
"Yeah, nice. Thanks." He murmured, feeling his eyes grow heavy with sleep now that he was warm again. "You're not bad to sleep with, ya know. Warm and you don't move around too much. A little bony, though."  
  
"Nice to know I make a good impression, even asleep." Duo snickered. Heero's deadly dry humor had always tickled him. He remembered Trowa saying that Heero was one of the few people that could make him laugh out loud.  
  
"You can go back to sleep, Duo, it's not even dawn yet." He felt Heero stretch and yawn against him which in turn created his own need to yawn.  
  
"Okay." Duo felt a hand run along his back to the nape of his neck and linger there, gently massaging and stroking him. The touch was curious and tentative at first, then growing more assertive.  
  
"I always wondered what your skin would feel like."  
  
"What does it feel like?" Duo purred. Being an openly tactile person, touching and being touched was like breathing to him. He felt a sudden pang at the curious longing in Heero's voice.  
  
"Warm and softer than I thought it would be. It feels alive."  
  
"Well, I am that." The stroking of his neck and shoulders was making him melt. Not to mention somewhat. aroused.  
  
"Heero?"  
  
"Mm?"  
  
"Um, you're making me hot."  
  
"You find this arousing?" Heero continued to massage his neck and shoulders, now pressing his fingers into any tightness he discovered.  
  
"To put it mildly." Duo moaned, arching into the touch.  
  
"I've read the neck is an erogenous zone. Interesting." Heero's voice was calm and inquiring.  
  
"Interesting, my sweet ass, is that all you have to say?"  
  
"I'm merely taking notice of what pleases you. You do want me to please you, don't you?"  
  
"Yeah, immediately if not sooner." Duo took one of the hands caressing his neck and put it to his hardened penis. He thrust against Heero's hand in a needy fashion. He felt the slow smile against his neck, then Heero's lips against his neck, beginning to suckle the flesh there as he was stroked to a quick completion.  
  
"That's quite a wake up call," Duo rasped out breathlessly afterwards. He turned into Heero's embrace and watched him tentatively taste what was on his hand, then shrug and lick it off.  
  
"Tastes like tears and sweat."  
  
"I know." Duo leaned over to place a kiss on the corner of Heero's mouth.  
  
"Anything I can do for you?" Duo placed his hand on Heero's stomach, gently making circles around his taut navel.  
  
"Only if you want to."  
  
"I want to."  
  
Minutes later, Duo felt the shudder and release of the other mans orgasm, the evidence of it on his hands, warm and alive accompanied by a sound that might have been his name.  
  
"Heero, you all right?" He wrapped his arms Heero tightly, rocking him slightly in his embrace. Heero bit his lower lip, two tears of release leaking down the sides of his face.  
  
A small negative shake of the head was Duo's answer.  
  
"Hey, it's all right. Just kinda hits you hard sometimes, you know? Good for you to get it out once in a while."  
  
"Duo. Don't leave me, please."  
  
"Sure, I already said I wouldn't." Duo petted the soft silky hair of Heero's head in a comforting fashion.  
  
"We're gonna be together, I promise. You know me, I never lie." Duo felt a prickling of tears in his own eyes.  
  
"You never lie." Heero repeated, his breathing beginning to even out. "My Duo never lies." He reached up a hand to cup Duo's face, and Duo leaned into it.  
  
"So, I'm your Duo now, am I?" he smiled and placed a kiss into the palm of that offered hand.  
  
"Duo, do I seem all right to you?" Heero finally opened his eyes and drew Duo into an intense inquiring stare.  
  
"I dunno. What's all right?" Duo shrugged. "You're askin' me what normal is? Like I have a clue." Duo snorted and pulled Heero into a fierce hug.  
  
"But, I know that I'm happier with you than anyone. That's enough, isn't it?" Duo released him a little and leaned back to look into those intense eyes.  
  
"I guess. I'm happy to be with you too. I'm glad I can feel good. I used to think it was unnecessary. I wonder why I felt that way?" Heero shook his head wonderingly.  
  
"It's because of what that old mindfucker J did to you Heero, but you'll be okay. You're tough. You're going to be fine, you'll see." Duo sounded like he was indulging in self-reassurance, Heero noted quietly but said nothing.  
  
"He has a lot to answer for, I suppose. Still I don't think he ever intentionally wanted to harm me. Does that make sense?"  
  
"What difference does it make, intentional or unintentional. Those old bastards playing God with us pisses me off!" Duo's rough voice rose in anger. "And you the worst of all, Heero. I mean, it's not as though I had a peachy childhood either, but at least I had some choices! I wasn't some lab rat for that twisted old fuck."  
  
"Whatever hell you imagine I suffered, Duo, I'm sure it's no worse than yours or Trowa's or any of the rest of us. Don't dismiss what any of us experienced. I doubt the doctors were looking for normal, typical boys. We were chosen because of what we already were. I know what I can survive. So do you. How many people have had their limits tested the way the Gundam pilots have?"  
  
"You're excusing them?" Duo's tone was incredulous. There was never any ambiguity about what Duo thought of the doctors. As much as he loved being Deathscythe's pilot, he also hated it. That ambiguity flavored everything he felt about the scientists that had built the Gundams and chosen their pilots.  
  
"Duo, they gave us the Gundams. I don't know how I should feel about them. I never examined it. I just did what I was trained to do. It was never about how I felt about it."  
  
"Dammit, Heero, that's not right. You have to know that's not right!"  
  
"I know. I think I know that now. But, where does it leave me?"  
  
"Heero, why are you rebuilding Wing? What is that shit all about? There's no reason for you to do anything Dr. J tells you ever again."  
  
"I need it." Heero's voice dropped to a whisper. "I don't know anything else."  
  
"Learn something else!" Duo shook his shoulders gently, pulling Heero's chin up with one hand to until their eyes locked.  
  
"Can I? Can I be anything besides a soldier?"  
  
"Of course you can! You're the smartest, most capable person I ever met, you can do anything. You're Heero Yuy!" Duo's grip became almost painful on his upper arm.  
  
"I need your help."  
  
"I'll help you, buddy. I love you, I'll help." Duo pulled him into another hard embrace.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "I told you so."  
  
The scarred countenance of Dr. G peered owlishly out from under his mop of gray hair.  
  
Dr. J chuckled mirthlessly. "Yes, I concede your point, you old fool. 01 and 02 needed to be brought together."  
  
"Well, then, are you going to continue the rebuilding of the Gundam? It's served our purpose, they are now together."  
  
"Negative, they need the time spent rebuilding Wing to complete Yuy's rehabilitation."  
  
"Not to mention Maxwell's." Dr. cocked his head like some predatory bird.  
  
"It's ridiculous you know. What was done may not be able to be undone. We're no doubt doomed to live with our transgressions as they are." He pointed to the surveillance screen.  
  
Dr. J cackled. "Getting existentialist in your old age, G?"  
  
"Don't be insulting. I merely hate to see a good experiment wasted."  
  
"Certainly, as do I."  
  
The two figures turned their attention back to the screen. "You were correct about the nature of their relationship, I'll grant you that." Dr. J said this with almost childish petulance.  
  
"I never did agree with how you treated that boy." Dr. G said in his grating voice, shaking his head in disgust.  
  
"He was a kind boy.."  
  
TBC 


	5. Chapter 5

Title: The Other Duo  
  
Author: Gina Lin Series: Gundam Wing Pairing: 1x2 Genre: Romance, Adventure, Angst and Humor Warnings: Language, Yaoi, Citrus Rating: R Archived: S_E updates, FF.net, GWFF  
  
Chapter 5  
  
"So, this is it." Duo looked at the looming mechanical presence in the nearly empty hangar and felt his chest fill. A visceral memory threatened to overwhelm him, and he bit his lip to distract himself from it's impact. Memories flashed inside of his head like a vid screen. The scream that resounded in his own ears when Deathscythe was destroyed. His hands on the controls, the exhilaration of indescribable power around him; of G-forces tightening his gut.  
  
"Yeah." Heero went over to the Gundam and ran a hard, knowing hand on the metal skin, almost a caress. Duo recognized both the touch and the possessive look on Heero's face, except it had been directed towards him in intimate moments. An unreasonable ping of jealousy surged through him. Recognizing it, he talked it down. All the jokes the pilots had shared about "being one with your Gundam" suddenly made him inwardly cringe.  
  
"I can't finish it without you." Heero removed his hand and strode over to stand by Duo's side, his gaze drifting over the machine.  
  
"You're as good with this stuff as I am, Heero." Duo shifted subtly away from Heero's body. Heero inside his personal comfort bubble was too big of a distraction to think rationally.  
  
"Not really. Aside from Howard, I doubt anyone knows the guts of these things like you do. It's been drilled into me theoretically, but hands on, you're one hell of an engineer, Duo. It's your gift."  
  
"That's not what you said this morning." Duo grinned mischievously, diverting the compliment, as usual. He shifted away another inch or so from Heero. "I thought my gift was making you scream loud enough to wake the dead."  
  
"Is something making you uncomfortable, or do you have to take a piss?" Heero raised an eyebrow at him and offered a tiny smile at the joke.  
  
"Can't sneak much past you, can I?" Duo willed himself to stillness, then looked up and met Heero's scrutiny. "Okay, babe, cards on the table. This is like seeing a fucking ghost and I'm severely fighting the urge to run outta here like all the demons of hell are trying to bite my ass." He gestured at the half-finished Gundam, never taking his eyes from Heero's.  
  
"Have to admit, it's gorgeous, though." Duo's long fingered hand traced a quick outline through the air, as he shifted his focus from Heero's face to the metal beast.  
  
"It is, isn't it?" Heero mused. His own eyes raked the sleek metallic lines and a tiny sigh escaped his pursed lips.  
  
"If you ever look at another guy the way you're looking at that hunk of metal, I'll kick your sorry ass." Duo's voice was near his ear, unexpectedly, shaking him out of his reverie.  
  
"I had a feeling you were the jealous type." Heero leaned in to the embrace from behind, lacing his fingers over Duo's resting on his stomach. Duo rested his chin on Heero's shoulder.  
  
"You have no idea." Heero felt the smile in Duo's words without looking. "And you're not?"  
  
"Insanely." He tightened his fingers around Duo's briefly.  
  
"Not my favorite word, but okay."  
  
"Sorry I went off on you the other day." Heero's voice dropped to almost a whisper. "I usually keep a tighter rein on all my shit."  
  
"Heero, it's about damn time. I swear 'repression' must be your middle name. It only scares me when you DON'T go off on me."  
  
"Heero Repression Yuy. Nah, don't like it. Doesn't flow." Heero muttered lightly, raising an eyebrow again. "And I just had my towels monogrammed."  
  
Duo chuckled in his ear. "You're scaring me, two jokes in one week. What's next, prank vid calls?"  
  
"No, I'll let you and Quatre entertain yourself that way. I never saw the humor in waking up irate people in the middle of the night to ask them if their appliances were running."  
  
"That was Quatre's idea. He had a restricted childhood. Poor thing." Duo grinned and snorted faintly against Heero's neck. "Besides, if a guy wants to spend his extra credits making an ass out of himself, who am I to argue? If there's a party, you know I'm there."  
  
"I'm sure you made sure he was thoroughly corrupted." Heero sounded distant.  
  
"Yeah, right, I corrupted him." Duo snorted. "Hey, you're not jealous of all that time I spent with Quat, are you?" Duo asked, picking up his head from Heero's shoulder. "I mean, you spent a lot of time with him too, in Sanq."  
  
"No, I'm not jealous of your friendship with Quatre. Or Wufei. Or Trowa. Or Hilde. Or half of L2." Heero sighed. "Quatre was our leader, we're all close to him."  
  
"You just sounded funny."  
  
"Duo, I know you were intimate with him. It doesn't matter now. It was 4 year ago." Heero shrugged.  
  
"Define intimate. And are we having an argument about who did who?" Duo stiffened and pulled back. "Because I've got a list in my head of who you've been with too, and we can either forget it or compare notes. But, I can't see how that's gonna get us anywhere but totally pissed off with each other."  
  
"You're right. I don't want to talk about who did what to who. I try not to remember most of what went on then anyway. Hell, I don't remember parts of it." Heero turned around with an apologetic look, ducking his head.  
  
"You don't remember?" Duo sounded surprised.  
  
Heero looked up. "Yeah, I guess I took a few too many hits to the head, or something. Have a few memory gaps." He shrugged.  
  
"Heero that's not good." Duo closed the gap between them and took Heero's warm calloused hands into his own.  
  
"I'm fine, I pass all the neuro exams." Heero slid his arms around Duo's waist. "Sally said it might be psychological or something J built in to deal with trauma."  
  
"You're kidding. You mean you have some sort of mental switch that trips to keep you from overloading on emotional trauma?"  
  
"I dunno. Everyone shuts down at some point. No one knows half the things that were done to me Duo. I'm sure most of them are illegal on Earth, and probably the colonies too. Nanotech, viruses, most of it."  
  
"Jeezus." Duo muttered between his teeth. "Heero, I guess I never thought that much about it. You were always just "Heero" to me. I mean, I know you're physically strong, and Zero never even phased you. The rest of us were screaming like the damned and you just handled it."  
  
"Duo, I'm sure I'm not the only one." Heero lightly squeezed his hands and gazed at him earnestly. "Quatre finally mastered it too. I'm sure the rest of you would have eventually."  
  
"What? No way man, that was the single worse experience of my life and that's saying a lot." Duo closed his eyes in denial and shook his head.  
  
"Duo, what would you say if I said I had evidence that all five of us had been genetically altered?" Heero increased the pressure of his grasp until Duo opened his eyes.  
  
"I'd say you're scaring the shit out of me. What the fuck are you talking about?" Duo had pulled away and Heero could hear his heart racing from half a meter away, his eyes shuttered, head down, fists clenched.  
  
"Duo, haven't you ever wondered why the most powerful weapon known to man was given to five 15 year old boys? What made us so special? Why us?"  
  
"Sure, I guess I've wondered that." Duo ground out the admission, still tense.  
  
"Children are routinely conceived in vitro in the colonies, Duo. Do you know what you can do with an embryo before it's implanted? Doesn't seem odd to you that in some sense or another, we're all orphans? Even Quatre barely knew his father."  
  
"Heero, are you saying that we were all made Gundam pilots from conception?" Duo swallowed, and suddenly felt the need to sit somewhere, anywhere as his knees buckled.  
  
"Duo, sit down." He felt gentle hands guiding him towards the floor. "Breathe, Duo, deep breaths."  
  
Duo sat down abruptly on the ground and began to let Heero's voice guide his shaky breathing. Finally, he was able to speak. "Heero, why aren't we all like you?"  
  
"I don't know. Perhaps because it wasn't necessary. Perhaps because each of us needed to have different abilities to work as a team. There's a lot of things I still need to find out." Heero looked grim, sitting cross-legged next to Duo on the hard cement floor, one hand making comforting circles on Duo's back.  
  
"You said engineering was my gift. Do you think that's what they did to me?" Duo's eyes were wide in a pale face.  
  
"I'm sure it was more along the lines of enhancing something that already existed in all of us. I have to admit, only in myself do I see a few abilities pushed enough beyond human norms to be noticed."  
  
"You think J went further than the others?" Duo gave him a questioning look. His face had begun to regain its normal healthy color.  
  
"Yeah, obviously. I'm practically a freak." Heero said this dispassionately, as though he were commenting on the weather.  
  
"Heero, no!" Duo grasped his hands. "Don't say that. You're amazing. There's nothing freakish about that."  
  
"Duo, it's simply a fact. I do love the fact that it doesn't scare you away from me, though."  
  
"Heero, nothing about you does anything but attract me immensely. It's like I can't breath when I'm not around you. I can't stay away."  
  
"Yes, I'm sure that's intentional." Heero spoke so calmly, Duo didn't react for a few seconds.  
  
"Intentional?" he finally echoed.  
  
"Duo, I'm sure we were intended to complement each other in every sense of the word. I can't verify it, but I have a feeling it's that way with all of us. What better way to contain the experiment?"  
  
"The way I feel about you is NOT a fucking experiment!" Duo's eyes flashed so brightly, Heero flinched away.  
  
"Duo, if it's part of what we are, of course it's what we feel. Unless you have any objections to being irresistibly drawn to me on some genetic or hormonal level?"  
  
"No, all I know is it feels right." Duo set his jaw stubbornly and Heero almost smiled at his fierce expression.  
  
"It is right and there's nothing wrong with it or with you. As I said, I'm sure these things are parts of us that were there to start with anyway. Just enhanced in some fashion."  
  
"You mean to make sure we ended up together, no matter what. Sort of a sexual homing signal? Maybe we were imprinted on each other in some way?"  
  
"Something like that. I don't have any real proof, but the science exists to do such a thing. Does that make you feel different towards me?"  
  
Duo stared at him for a long moment, then sighed. "No, I feel the same. If I had to be stuck with someone forever, I can't think of anyone else I'd choose anyway. That's the truth. I loved you from the first moment I set eyes on you. Scary, isn't it?" A small scared bleat of a laugh was forced out of his throat.  
  
"Duo, I had the same reaction. And that's saying something for me. I don't remember feeling anything much about anyone. Except for you. That alone was astounding. And yeah, it scared the living hell out of me."  
  
"I want to go home." Duo had his arms around his knees and was rubbing his face against the denim of his jeans.  
  
"Me too. It's been a hell of a day." Heero stood up and brushed off his jeans, holding out his hand to Duo.  
  
Duo allowed himself to be pulled to his feet. He gave Heero a troubled look and then buried his face in the soft cotton of Heero's shirt.  
  
"Heero, I don't care why, I just love you."  
  
"I guess it doesn't matter, since I love you too. Nothing will change that."  
  
"I'm all yours, man. Please, I need to get outta here."  
  
They left the abandoned hangar clinging to each other.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Yuy knows." Dr. G gave his partner a withering glare.  
  
"Of course he does, he has superior reasoning skills." J clicked the claws of his artificial limb in an annoyed fashion.  
  
"I suspect Winner has some inkling too. Empathy was an unexpected development of his emotional makeup."  
  
"It was a mistake to make so many modifications to Yuy's physical and mental structure. We agreed to be minimally invasive, only what would be necessary to pilot the Gundams on schedule!"  
  
"Yuy withstood it well." J's voice was arrogantly assured.  
  
"You always were more interested in your research than our intent to aid the colonies!" G would not be placated. "And yes, Yuy withstood it. That doesn't make it ethical or humane."  
  
"You're a fine one to talk about humanity. You really think that allowing Maxwell to run loose on the streets of L2 was any more humane that what Yuy experienced?"  
  
"I had my ways of making sure he survived the sociological experimentation. He was observed." G's had taken on a defensive tone.  
  
"Don't sound so self-righteous. Your ideas on what would force our genetic tampering to its full potential were no kinder than mine!"  
  
"We all knew that pushing the subjects to their physical and emotional limits would force the modifications to evolve!" G's grating voice cut across his associate's sarcasm.  
  
"You can't control every aspect of an experiment." J sounded almost apologetic.  
  
"No, we've certainly learned that in the last 20 years, haven't we?"  
  
TBC 


End file.
